Visual Arts

An early prototype of photographic technology, black and-white silver gelatin prints have become a classic since the invention of photography more than one century ago.

As the silver gelatin process renders post-processing difficult, the B/W images exude a sense of authenticity, purity and depth, along with exquisite yet, subtle tonal gradations, rich texture and luminosity, and of course the lasting, archival quality of the prints themselves. Many photographic artists prefer this analogue imaging process for the challenges it poses and the spontaneity and uncertainty involved – a conscious if not intellectual choice.

The “B/W Nostalgia” exhibition, organised by a group of Hong Kong photographers devoted to silver gelatin traditions, features the work of 26 artists. The series displays a diverse range of photographic and production techniques, from ‘straight’ printing to the more unconventional methods of wet-plate photography and platinotypes.